Eador – Masters of the Broken World Review

I had a crack at Eador – Genesis a while ago. An indie strategy game with a lot of simple charm and depth, it impressed me. And I mentioned at the time, there was a glossy sequel in the offing. Now it’s here!

I had a go as soon as I got it installed. I really enjoyed the first one, which apparently didn’t enjoy as wide a distribution as it deserved until it recently hit the big time on GOG. I don’t know exactly what I was expecting of this newer one. It’s got all the charm, depth, intelligence and irregular hexagony tiles as the first one. Hurrah! Although, well, it’s really got all the same things as the first game. Like, exactly the same.

There was a nagging feeling as I played the tutorial level of the campaign. Going back and checking, it was correct. It’s word-for-word identical in terms of the story. I think the help panels are a bit clearer, but even they rang a bell. Not that I read them too closely. I knew what I was doing, because the game is the same as last time.

Perhaps I’m doing it an injustice, there may be vast additional levels of detail layered into the late game that I haven’t seen yet. It also felt less unfair than the original was, a bit more forgiving of rookie mistakes. But also slower to play, as the 3D graphics take a little longer to do their thing, something that’s particularly noticable in combat. There, the units really crawl about. They look great doing it, but it’s a bit America’s Next Top Sloth. But I don’t need to go on at length – go and read my original review. It all holds good here.

I want to stress, this is still a good game! Worth playing, and great to see they haven’t broken anything that didn’t need fixing. It also looks great, rather than something I might have played in the late nineties. I’d still say it’s well worth a go. But you could basically go and read my initial review. There’s nothing new here that I need to talk about, other than the graphics.

Given I can buy the original for £4, whereas the shiny new one costs £12.50 (prices based on GOG, converted from dollars), I guess it totally depends on how highly you prize looks over substance. Personally, I don’t think the improved look is worth the extra cash, especially for long-term fans of the series who might be expecting more of a sequel, but that’s just me. I’m all about internal value over looks. Just ask my wife.

the author

Used to be a Doctor (Dr). Now is an actor (Ar), writer (Wr) and gamer (Gr), and would like to get all these abbreviations into general usage, because GrArWr is a much more interesting title to have on your bank card.